saliva build-up
Hi David,
Every so often I take time out from your fantastic lessons to play one-note-at-a-time melodies, usually in first position, to work on my speed and accuracy. But I find that I very quickly accumulate too much saliva, which gets in the way. This doesn't happen (much) when I'm playing your lessons. I think this might be because, what with slaps and other blues techniques, the tongue is off the harmonica often enough for the air to get in and keep the underside of the tongue rather dry. Do you have any suggestions as to how to cope with this problem when playing single notes?
Thanks for that. I'm talking about pieces like Irish jigs and whatnot that go pretty fast and where there's really no time to swallow, except maybe, but not always, between phrases, typically every 4 bars. This may be a good reason to play that kind of music with a pucker, though it doesn't sound as good in my opinion.
Ah, thanks for the details. Embouchure is not a determining factor here... use which one you feel sounds best and gives you the most options... your body will figure this out. The "head up" tip is he most important. Also opening your embouchure helps... the more narrow your embouchure the more velocity you give your spit into the harmonica.
Thanks!!
Hello ungar. Here are some tips for you...
1) Head Up - Let gravity keep your saliva in your mouth and not in the harmonica
2) Play with a large, resonant embouchure (slight yawn), which helps saliva to pool in your mouth and not slide into the harmonica
3) In these melodies, allow the phrase-end notes to decay a little early so that you can swallow.